Night Runner 2

         “FAELYN! FAELYN! I’M FAELYN!” As soon as I said it, there was a pill in my mouth and water chasing it down my throat. The lightning in my leg diminished to nothing within moments, my head was light and my vision was cloudy. I felt someone, probably Bard, pick me up off the floor, cradled me against his warm chest.

         “Good girl, that’s your lesson for the day.” I listened to his voice vibrate through his torso, shaking me with every word. I felt the blood coursing through him, every slow, steady beat pushing blood away and closer again. I trailed my fingers over the skin, stopped over a thick vein; there was no real way for me to get at this man’s blood… I slipped my knife out and slashed him! His yell of surprise came just after I had swept my tongue across the line I had made to go with all his other scars.

         “What are you doing?” He dropped me to the floor, the pain was imaginary, but the pill he had given me was not. I wiped my mouth with my hand, cleaned my hand with my tongue, laughing with demented glee. His was hot, spicy blood, more like an ancient, robust wine compared to cheap watered down beer blood of the others’. Bard held his hand to his chest, kicked the knife out of my grasp and picked it up.

         My knife, my mother had carved it from bone for me when I was young. We came across the skeleton of a bear, she had shielded me from the sight, but went back and the next day presented me with the eight-inch weapon. One side curved like the deadly scimitar, the other like an ordinary dagger. I carried it everywhere. I’ve never lost it, let anyone else hold it, see it, let alone touch it or know of its existence.

         “Put it down.” Bard was still kneeling, I repeated myself. He didn’t move. I launched at him, snatching it from him and sheathing it again before I landed. Bard stood up, looking at me on the ground where his hand had just been. The happiness I’d felt a getting a taste of his blood was washed away with the memories of my mother talking to me, as if she were telling me what to do in this situation right now. Of course they were just memories, nothing changed.

         “You have many talents that can be trained Faelyn,” I almost corrected him, but already that pill must be wearing off, I could feel my newly positioned ankle throbbing, “you would do well to not attempt to injure me again.” His eyes grew dark and serious. I licked my lips, thinking of that rich flavor… Bard snapped his fingers, he stood over me, and I reached up like a toddler to be picked up. Once again I was at his chest, he was tense this time, no longer thinking of my potential harmlessness. But now the dry wound looked unappetizing and smelled stale. I wasn’t interested.

         “Okay, now that was the third time I did that gross blood sucking thing. I’ve never done that before in my life, why now?” Bard walked in silence, I noticed an elevator at one point but then it was halls again, not so white, not so narrow, but still halls.

         “I’m not sure.” Bard said, “It may be that the nature of my people is strong enough to cause those who are willing to choose to be different a chance to prove that they have that particular characteristic within them, though they are ordinary.” I let the thought roll slowly through my head, chewing every word. I can be different, I concluded. And Bard can make me different. We entered an open area, a dome space is what could best describe it, where hallways branched off into about ten directions, Bard walked into one of them and it ended in some very big, elaborate, ornate, ancient, wooden doors with giant metal handles and a lion’s head knocker. Like really, lion’s head. Completed with a metal thing in its mouth.

         “This is where you will be staying. In my sight.” Inside had to be like a whole house spread out into one enormous room. I gaped at everything inside because it looked like the medieval ages had come decorating at the housewarming party. In the center of everything against the far wall was a giant four post bed with gossamer curtains, another wall sported a fireplace that was twice my height, empty, but still, come on, ten feet tall at least! The third wall I looked at was a study, bookshelves that went to the vaulted ceiling had to be thirty foot tall or more, luckily, a librarian’s ladder stood by.

         A real fireplace, a small one where Santa couldn’t bring his whole sleigh down with him had a hearty fire burning and crackling. It illuminated what had to be the famous overstuffed study chairs that were seated around a chess table, a small long table and at a large desk.

         “Oh, Bardalph, I’m glad you came back so early, I thought we could…” A woman’s voice trailed off as Bard turned towards what happened to be the area where a magnificent bath was set into the floor, and a very much nude woman was getting out of the sudsy water and utterly failing to cover herself as she waltzed over the thick rugs. “Bardalph.” She gave a nervous face twitch that could have been a smile when I deigned myself to look, “What is this?” She sounded pissed, in that crazy woman way that many men couldn’t hear how pissed they really were.

         “Frieda, this is Faelyn. She is my own personal Phelan for the time being.” I had burrowed my face away from the naked woman, I felt so embarrassed looking at her! But I peeked my head out in time to see her swish a robe around dramatically that also swished her wet hair and storm out the door we had just entered. Bard, Bardalph, well, Bard was better, sighed and watched her disappear down the hall.

         I felt tired. Like, real tired. Maybe it was that pill, maybe it was like the other times I’d tasted blood and I was sleepy. I don’t know. A huge yawn erupted from my mouth, my teeth grazed Bard and he unceremoniously dropped me!

         “OOF!” I couldn’t even roll to absorb impact! “That hurt.” I just kind of lay there, looking at the ceiling, I didn’t care really, but I was just too tired. Bard was talking, maybe saying something about me trying to bite him or something. Nope. He was more likely explaining my sleeping quarters. Which was what I’d failed to perceive during my initial view.

         I figured out I was in a cage the next time I woke up. I can’t really say morning; no sun to tell anything as far as time went. But I was curled up on a fur rug, it was huge and pillowy so maybe it was a sheep at one point in time. The cage had a door, on the door was a chain and padlock, I wasn’t even awake and I knew I was screwed.

         I laughed though; by the door was a large bowl of water, a small plate with unidentifiable meat, gravy, bread bits and a note. I picked up the paper, Bard had gone out, I was to stay here, (ha-ha Bard) and when he came back I had to be ready for more lessons and another tour. Inwardly I cringed at the thought of Bard twisting my ankle. Being punched and kicked was ok; I could handle the intense impact and the duller sensation of pain that followed. But having something so sharp, direct and infuriatingly painful was another beast altogether.

         I looked at the water, the last time I’d been to the bathroom… I gazed through the bars longingly at the bathroom area across the room, pathetically holding on the cage for support. I was really hungry too… It wasn’t big enough to stand; I could lie straight out one direction, which was it. I looked at the note again; maybe there was a way, a test, for me to get out of the cage? I looked at the padlock, an old fashion thing from the days of ball and chain, huge, cumbersome, easy to pick should one have had brought the tools. Which I didn’t.

         Another thing I failed at has to be preparation. I tried rolling the note into a firm piece, wagging it around inside the lock; I found pay dirt just when the door started to open. I dropped the paper pick, the lock fell open, the chain slid to the floor. What should I do? I fell flat, twisting my head to see just a little, feigning sleep. I looked at the figure, tall, maybe my height, slender, maybe a little thinner than me, and short hair. I envy that person. They walked in, sneaky like. Going first to the long table, then to the desk.

         Someone was sneaking around Bard’s things! I prayed quick, that they wouldn’t torture me to death if they caught me, then pushed the door open and clumsily, but silently, crept up behind them. I got to be within a foot of the person when they giggled and turned to face me.

         “AAAUUUGH!” They jumped in surprise! Now was my chance! I tackled them through the midriff, felt the air whoosh out of their body, we fell against the desk, I wrapped my arms around theirs, so I couldn’t get hit and I yanked one up behind them and pushed them to the ground, cop style.

         “Who are you?” I asked the inert person. They weren’t fighting me, weird, not even a tug. I swiped my hair behind my ear, always in the way… They turned and looked up at me, one bright green eye shining in the light of the fire, and smiled. A mouth full of gleaming teeth stared up at me, I pushed their arm further, felt the muscles strain, I knew it was making them uncomfortable with pain, but I couldn’t take chances. “I asked, who are you?” Their smile disappeared, I’m sure it was a girl now, malnourished maybe, just judging by the sheer frailty I felt. I felt pity for them. I let go of the girl’s arm, pushed myself to stand.

         “I-I’m sent to retrieve a thing.” She said. The girl stood up, I watched her rotate the arm I twisted and felt even worse.

         “Here, I’m sorry.” I rubbed the knot from her shoulder, much like Bard had done for me yesterday, or earlier, whatever. I could tell she wasn’t used to being touched gently, she was like a skittish horse with a poor rider. “What is your name? You never said.” I let go of her arm, she took a step away from me, and I finally saw her face. Her cheekbones were standing out, but other than that she was pretty; in a unique way that I guess wasn’t common.

         “Elle.” L. That was it? I can’t help what other people are called. I stuck out my hand; she looked at it and slowly put her hand in mine.

         “Hi Elle, I’m Ce-Faelyn!” I smiled brightly at her but she didn’t smile back. I noticed she was wearing one of those gray shirts. I wonder if that was a mark of some sort. “What are you looking for? Maybe I can help?” She shook her head. “Come on, you don’t even know what you’re looking for!” She looked at the desk; there were a lot of things on it, gadgets, papers, tools, reports and the ilk.

         “The thing, its small, plastic with a small metal port on it. He said it was red with a word on it, Memtech. He called it a thing, I don’t know what thing it is.” I thought about it for a minute, metal port, a port is for boats, and computers sometime. Plastic, red, Memtech…

         “A flash drive!” I scanned the desk quickly, not seeing it; I opened a drawer, pay dirt! Only one catch… Ten Memtech flash drives lined the bottom of the drawer. Elle could take them all, or maybe they all had the same information?

         “Who asked for the flash drive Elle? Did he say how many or which one?” I turned to her, standing silently behind me. She shook her head again, she did that a lot.

         “Randolph, he wants the important one.” I slammed the desk drawer closed. I got the feeling that Randolph and Randy are one and the same. I grabbed Elle’s hand, dragged her over to my cage/bed, I wonder if I can get something normal… Eventually I’ll be able to ask Bard about it.

         “Hey, do you eat stuff like this?” I picked up the plate of meat gravy; Elle’s eyes went wide so I would take that as a yes. “You eat it, I’m not hung-” My stomach growled and the gravy wafted up to my nose. “Ignore that, I want you to eat this and we’ll wait for Bard to come back. I gave her the plate and she started wolfing it down, slurping and gulping horridly, I heard her choke twice before I snatched the plate away. She flinched and dropped to the ground, swallowing hurriedly.

         “You can’t eat so fast! You’ll throw up and then the food is no good anymore!” I sat down next to her; I held the plate while she ate, glancing up at me through her short hair. It was greasy, like bum greasy. Her skin looked the same way, like she slept in, well, dirt. I let her lick the plate clean, her stomach bulged over the tattered jeans in a slightly disturbing way, but I wouldn’t let that bother me.

         “Stay here a minute, I want to look at something.” I hobbled to the bath; it was empty, and quite normal looking to say the least. “Come over!” I waved Elle over, grabbing a washcloth and loading it with water and shampoo. She stayed a good distance away, I asked her to come closer and she shook her head violently.

         “You won’t melt! I promise!” Still she didn’t move. I set the wet cloth down and launched, very horridly I might add, and landed in her lap. She weighed almost nothing! I pulled her, struggling the whole way until she was close enough for me to wash her hair. She sat there while I scrubbed the nasty smells out for what could have been a good hour. I jabbered away, telling her about dumb things like school and my dad’s crazy wife who killed him. She didn’t say anything unless I asked, since I wanted her to talk of her own volition, I finally broke down

         “Can you tell me about yourself? I’d like to know you better.” She looked up at me with her big green eyes again, confused maybe. I finished rinsing her hair and grabbed a towel to dry it when she started talking.

         “I’ve been Elle my whole life now. I’ve been Phelan since I arrived here. I was Phelan before I was here, I was at another Den, I was in a group of many Phelan, I made it, Horus made it, Jude made it, Kaylee made it and Ulric made it. They went to Ghregor as Phelan, Kaylee and Jude, Ulric stayed with Victor, Horus and I came here. I was Tunnel Phelan again. Horus died, but I made it through again. I’m in the open group Phelan; anyone can use me for their chores or errands. I’ve been group Phelan for one cycle and this is my tenth errand. You get fed for every errand when you are part of the group. I think Randolph will have me put in the Pit for taking so long.”

         I was washing the dirt off her arms when she finished, life her sounded really dismal to say the least, and how many people were being used as underfed servants?

         “What is the Pit?” Elle cringed when I said it, I imagine its bad.

         “The Pit,” Bard strode into the room, “is where bad Phelan are gotten rid of.” I shielded Elle, pushing her behind me and getting ready to draw my knife.

         “You can’t do that to Elle! I won’t let you! Not without a fight!” Bard simply walked over, pushed the dingy cloth into the tub with an uninterested toe and sat in front of me, cross-legged in his white slacks, arms at his side. His shirt is a deep purple color today, regal looking I’ll admit.

         “I’m afraid that’s not up to you, you can try to stop whoever comes to get her, but I doubt you will succeed dear Faelyn.” I shook my head; I could feel Elle go cold behind me.

         “But you owe Elle and me a favor!” I watched Bard’s eyebrow arch up comically, a smile playing across his lips.

         “Oh? Why would that be?” He asked, pushing his fingers now into a steeple under his chin. I clenched my knife under my sleeve; I was waiting for him to try snatching Elle,

         “If it wasn’t for us, Randolph would have your Memtech flash drives!” I watched his light brown eyes fade into black, the smile turning into a furious snarl, steeples collapsing into fists if rage and anger. Bard’s voice was an inhuman growl,

         “You may continue with Elle. Keep her here. She’s yours. Stay here. I have business to attend to.” He stormed to the door, slamming it behind him, I heard a loud thunk and I assumed he locked them. I could hear him outside bellowing his anger to whoever could hear. We sat in silence until Bard’s voice couldn’t be heard anymore.

I let out the breath I’d been holding, wow that worked. Elle was still crouched behind me, I twisted around and hugged her and she fell to the floor.

         “I’m… going to live.” She whispered to my hip. “I’m not dying. I’m not going to the Pit.” I held her until she stopped crying. With her asleep in my lap, I really couldn’t do anything. I sighed. I really have to use the bathroom.



         The breeze whipped my hair around; I was at the top of the tree where my mom and I had climbed to watch the sunset almost everyday once I turned seven. It’s my birthday today, I’m eight now. My mom is gone, dad kept telling me that she was in heaven, but climbing the tree won’t make her come back. Silly daddy, I’m not trying to get her back, I’m trying to go with her, getting in heaven means I have to get into the clouds. I opened my arms, let the breeze bend the ancient pine in half, I’m not a bird, I can’t fly, I’m a little girl who runs through the woods.

         “You can’t get to heaven like that.” I looked next to me; a grizzly bear was flying next to me and in his paws was a giant rainbow colored fish that had empty black eyes. “You can’t get to heaven like that.” He repeated.

         “Why not? I can get to heaven by getting up there.” I pointed up at the cloudy sky to prove my point. The bear shook his furry head.

         “You can’t go to heaven alive, you have to be dead.” I looked at him, his fur was ruffled from the wind, and his ears bent back to save them from crinkling.

         “You aren’t dead, how do you know about heaven?” The bear smiled, his skin falling off in hunks as he rotted before my eyes, he was the skeleton I had visited the day after my mom and I found it in the woods. He pointed to his missing rib, the rest of him falling off and floating up into the clouds,

         “I know about heaven. I am dead.” His toothy grin disappeared into the cloud, I felt the white fluff encompass me, smothering me, I climbed through it, up I hope, mommy is up here! I came out onto the cloud, my feet sinking when I stood still too long. Where is my mom? I ran, calling for her, yelling, crying, lost.

         “What are you doing?” The bear was back, his fur had returned, his bright eyes small and angry. “What are you doing?” I told him, I’m looking…

         “Mommy isn’t here…” The bear grabbed me in his huge paws, threw me through the cloud, I saw the ground coming towards me so fast! It was all gray and colorless; this was the punishment for invading heaven.

I splashed into the lake and jolted awake. I couldn’t tell what time it was because there was no sun. Elle wasn’t on my lap anymore so I scoped the room. Elle had crawled into the cage/bed and was sleeping on the thick skin/rug inside. I got up; I can go to the bathroom now!

         I felt so relieved! I went around the room again, the fire was starting to die down, and next to the place was a stack of wood. I’ve done this before, I put more wood on, and soon it was burning as bright as before. I guess it isn’t the heat supply though; the room was much warmer than a fire alone could provide. I checked out some of the books, I couldn’t help it; I read everything I came in contact with. I found one that looked nice, An Incomplete Record of my Time. I opened to the middle and closed it again. I had opened to a page that depicted a man removing the eyes of another. I looked again, searching for something less… bloody.

         The Songs of Our Age. I opened it up; the whole tome was page after page of musical scores that held only three or four notes per song. Deals with Comrades. The Assimilation of Peoples. Beauty of the Beast. I picked that one up, it sounded like maybe it was a rendition of Beauty and the Beast or something. The book started from the perspective of a woman, and soon I was engrossed in her story, I was just to the part where a tribe of lion-men had kidnapped her from her village when I heard the door unlocking.

         Elle had heard it too and scrambled to my side, pulling me to my feet and frantically dragging me back to the cage. The door opened, Bard walked in, his cloths in shreds, hair tousled and blood spatters across his chest and face. My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, I wanted to ask…

         “What happened?” Stupid! Shut up! Big mouth McGee! Bard threw a look over his shoulder, smiling. I sighed inside at least I didn’t say anything stupid.

         “Fill the bath, I’ll tell you.” I frowned. I didn’t want to be one of the servants… He looked at me again, I rushed over to the tub and filled it, I wonder if guys like that frou-frou bubb- “Bubbles please.” He slipped into the water and sighed, the suds coming up to his chin. “I tracked down Randy after I called a council on his poor behavior. His sentence is a week in the Phelan Tunnels, I know he will come out, but this is a first as far as punishments go, we’ve never sent anyone down like that.” Elle was still over by the bed, her face pale.

         “Well, why did he want the flash drives anyway? Is there some sort of secret plan stored in them?” Bard glared at me, I suppose it’s normal to have your whole plan stored on flash drives. Where was his computer anyway?

         “Yes. And No. Those sticks would have alerted me the instant they were plugged in and exploded unless my password was input. I have ten for that very reason. Go lay down or something, I’ll be done soon.” He waved me off and sank a little lower into the bath. I could imagine the bloody water, pink with the splattering that has rinsed off by now. I saw the tattered clothing, I was curious…

         Grabbing the shirt, I inhaled the scent of the blood, seeing if… Rotten fruit left for ages! It was Randolph’s blood! I threw down the shirt and went to the bed/cage where Elle had already climbed in according to Bard’s command. I sat outside the iron bars, leaning against the actual bed. I haven’t actually seen anyone use it, when do these people sleep?

         “I said go lay down.” Bard barked from across the room.

         “Or something, you said.” I smiled when he growled and splashed the water. Why does he leave such wonderful loopholes open for exploitation?

         “I’m changing my mind, go lay down.” He was glaring at me again and I glared right back.

         “You can’t change an order after you’ve completed it, that’s like ordering a burger with cheese and a pickle, eating it and saying you wanted a burger with no pickle or cheese!” I must have confused him, I shouldn’t be pushing his buttons, but seriously, you can’t be doing that sort of thing.

         “IN NOW!” Elle was looking at me, her eyes wide and scared. I sighed. That cage was barely big enough for one person let alone two. I scooted in alongside Elle; we were pressed up alongside each other. I think I liked it. I lay my head down on my arms and waited. Elle copied me. I looked at her and grinned a little. I think she smiled back.

We must have been waiting a while because I fell asleep again.

         “Up Faelyn. We have places to see.” Bard was dressed in new white slacks and a pale green shirt, standing by the door waiting. I looked at Elle, she was sleeping hard, her back rising and falling slowly and her face was peaceful. “Faelyn.” I crawled out, Elle rolled into the depression my weight had caused, seriously, she must not weigh much of anything at all.

Bard opened the door; outside there were two huge dogs lying on either side. They looked at me and growled, their teeth dripping with saliva.

         “Switzerland!” Bard told the dogs, instantly they wagged their tails and lolled their tongue in happy agreement.

         “Switzerland?” I looked at Bard, he grinned, how old is he anyway?

         “It’s a trick I learned from my father, if I don’t want other people bypassing my guards, teach them the difference between master, friend and enemy. You are friend.” We went down one of the numerable hallways and came out into a wide-open free runner facility. I practically drooled then and there; this would have been my heaven if I were dead! Bard explained how there are different branches of the organization and they each had special abilities that in turn had special          areas to train in.

We went from the free runners to an obstacle course of death. Many hindrances were in the way of just a handful of people trying to get to what could be the end of the killer maze. Bard nudged me,

         “The catch is that they have to do it front to back, and it changes both ways, every time!” What’s the point of that? The next place looked like a giant factory of fire! “This is where we make weapons.” I gasped when an explosion erupted in the far corner, knocking over a giant furnace. Bard roared something at a man carrying a large steel bar that roared back and threw the bar at Bard before running towards the fire. Bard shook his head. “We have yet to acquire the proper handling protocol of the heavier weaponry. Moving on.” Bard showed me more training areas, people were running, fighting, thinking, planning, and then we came to an empty room. Mostly empty, besides the fireplace, table and chairs.

         “So I’ve seen all kinds of things here, but what kind of organization has servants who get abused, underfed and killed, training areas based on the dark ages, a weapons factory fit for world domination and of all things! A giant freaking fireplace!” I waited a second before adding, “Not to mention I was drugged and kidnapped in the middle of broad daylight…” Bard did that steeple hands thing, right under his chin, I felt the urge to swipe his elbows out from under his face, but I could imagine he could overpower me, crank my ankle and not give me anything for the pain.

         “Faelyn, I will admit, it was kidnapping.” He looked at me with a sincere but stern setting, because suddenly faces can have settings? “It is how I prefer to help the government, I take the dregs and make them useful, or get rid of them. Others prefer to take the elite, mostly for their money, but I can make money the old fashioned way, by hard work and planning.” He got up, hands clasped behind his back, pacing in front of the fireplace. “Furthermore, you chose to drug yourself with blood, a choice many do not make. And yes, the blood of this organization can do things to normal people; sadly, when a rogue goes off our grid, they can sell their blood for vast quantities of money depending on the effect they carry.

         “This place is the way it is because of how we as a people should be evolving to avoid annihilation. Any other course of action has proved fruitless again and again countless times and much bloodshed was had. You will learn eventually, whether of your own volition or with my help.” He must have gone back and forth dozens of times in that short speech, I was impressed in a weird way. He slid back into the giant seat by the fireplace, was Bard in absolute charge of everything?

         “As far as the treatment of Phelan goes, there is a ladder to climb, if you can’t survive in the worst of times, there is no reason to have you around in the best of times. It teaches us how to live frugally, learn how to survive in a world that would kill us in an instant.” He leaned back, arms on their ornate rests; I think they’re shaped like dogs.

         “So why did you take me? I’m not special, why aren’t I in the Tunnels Elle told me about?” I knocked my head against the giant wooden table; I really just wanted to go home… Bard smoothed my hair, I moved further away from him.

         “You will learn eventually. I swear you will. Do you remember your name?” I know this trick,

         “Faelyn…” I know he smiled, I could feel it. He tapped the table with a pill bottle. I heard the tiny capsule rattle inside. I jumped up, moving away from him, knife drawn. Bard was still sitting at the huge chair in front of the table with his hand on the bottle. “If you think I’m letting you anywhere near my ankle again, you’re wrong!” His smile faded, he pulled a chair out,          pushed it so I would have my legs facing him.

“Come sit down, you have nothing to worry about unless you answer incorrectly.” I looked at him, eyes narrowed. He was playing something…

         “First tell me the question, then I’ll sit.” Bard tapped the chair and stuck the bottle back into his pocket.

         “The question is your obedience, now sit.” I sheathed my knife, thinking of ways that I could possibly answer an obedience question wrong. I just have to do what he says so this should be easy! I walked over to the chair and sat, a small victory smile on my face. Bard was smiling too.